To me John Buscema was the greatest comic book artist. Ever since I was little boy I have been a fan of his work. I was awed when I met him and was honored when I had the privilege to study anatomy with him. I plan to write more about John and my experiences with him. This is just the beginning…

Recently I attended a panel discussion at the Society of Illustrators hosted by the Illustrators Partnership of America on the subject of the Orphaned Works Act. This act affects all visual artists whether they are commercial, fine or otherwise.
It is complicated and I urge you all to investigate it in more detail if you have the time. However essentially if this act is passed it will negate many of the positive and potentially lucrative copyright benefits that visual artists have held in the past. One of the most profound aspects will potentially increase the amount of infringement of all of our artwork.

A simple overview and example is as follows: If someone finds an image that you created whether it is printed or on-line they can use the image and claim that they could not locate the creator, i.e. "Orphaned".
In this day of Photoshop technology, a potential infringer can easily erase or retouch out a name or logo on any image and then claim that the altered piece was the original manner in which they discovered it.

We the creators of course can still fight the infringement but one of the other aspects of the act is that they want visual artists to individually copyright all of their images.
This aspect of the act will negate the previous law, which essentially gave power of copyright to a visual artist the moment they created the work. As we know the cost and time consumption of copyrighting would be monumental for anyone with a large body of work.

There are already entrepreneurial websites forming whose goal it is to harvest "Orphaned Works” which they intend to use for sale. Lets fight this.

On the upper right there is a link to the Illustrators Partnership of America. Once you arrive at the site you will be offered a number of template letters to choose from. Select a letter then fill in the necessary information and instantly the letter will be e-mailed to your appropriate representatives. Please pass on this information to all or any visual artists that you know. It only takes a minute. Thank you!

Written by David H. Reuss 2008

On the morning of May 18th 2007 the sky was dark, leaden and threatening. A sky very much like those often seen in the fantastic illustrations of Frank Frazetta.

< However on that morning instead of us being in an exotic jungle populated by savage men, scantily clad women and weird horrific creatures. We were actually in the concrete jungle: New York City. Which ironically is populated by… savage men, scantily clad woman and weird horrific creatures.

So perhaps it was very appropriate for us to begin our epic journey from the fantastic island of Manhattan to the seemingly more docile Frank Frazetta museum located in East Stroudsburg Pennsylvania.

After some coffee and a light breakfast, forty or so fans, both male and female and young and old eagerly left the Society of Illustrators on East 63rd Street and piled onto a chartered bus like a group of excited school children on their way to the circus.

We set out for the museum on schedule and after about and hour and half of being on the road the overcast skies and concrete canyons of Manhattan were pleasantly replaced by the blue skies and green mountains of western Pennsylvania.

Once we arrived at our destination our anxious group quickly disembarked from the bus and trotted up a winding bucolic wooded path. This path was vigilantly guarded by huge reptilian statues that watched us cautiously as we headed towards the museum.



As we continued along the trail our company split into smaller clusters of three or four. Some of us stalwartly marched towards the museum, while others meandered and admired the beautiful sylvan setting of the Frazetta estate that amongst other peaceful aspects featured a large serene lake. However it wasn’t long before we all reached our ultimate destination: The Frazetta Museum

The museum itself is reminiscent of a castle, complete with a classic heavy wooden door adorned with thick iron supports and handles. Eagerly we all passed through those fantastic doors and we entered into a Frank Frazetta-fan wonder-world.

Immediately as one enters the museum you realize that the walls are completely covered with the best of Frazetta’s original paintings, from the Conan series to the Death Dealer and everything powerful and savage in between.

One might choose to describe our experience by referring to the common metaphor of “kids in a candy store” but I think this experience was much more powerful.

Personally I felt the experience was reminiscent of when I was a young boy and I was enthralled by the cover of a comic book, entranced by an illustrated horror magazine or mesmerized by a poster of the latest summer sci-fi blockbuster.

It was a feeling of wonderment that was coupled with an intense desire to touch, experience and even covet what I beheld. I’m sure I was not alone in this distinct feeling on that very special day.

As we all enthused over the wonders on the wall, some snapped photos, and some thoughtfully discussed individual pieces. However, others took the opportunity to say hello to the brains and passion behind the museum, Frank Frazetta’s wife; Ellie Frazetta.

Ellie was the perfect host with her sparkling smile and genuine, welcoming demeanor. She was also responsible for making our trip very special for three reasons.

First: Ellie had graciously offered to open the museum privately for our group.

Second: Ellie exclusively displayed for us two of Frank’s recent paintings that he completed with his left hand (since his stroke Frank cannot paint or draw with his right hand).

Third: Ellie told us that she would try her best to have Frank come out to say hello to us all.

Since we all knew that Frank might come in to visit us, the anticipation in the museum was positively electric.

Each time the museum’s castle door creaked open many of us whirled around in hopeful expectation. However it was usually just another guest arriving late or it was someone who works at the museum coming in or going out.

Fortunately though we weren’t disappointed for very long because suddenly in an instant it happened. The heavy castle door creaked open and the warm mid-day light shone in and with that light entered the man himself: Frank Frazetta!

For some reason I decided to wear boots that day and it was so very appropriate because once I saw the living legend walk through that door I began to shake in them. Being a native New Yorker I have seen and even met some famous people. So it might be safe to say that celebrity does not very often impress me. This was very different. For me this was beyond celebrity.

When I introduced myself to Frank I felt privileged to shake his hand. In a strange but authentic way I felt I had met a part of me. That part being the impetus for creating fantastic art. In short upon meeting Frank Frazetta I was moved and excited, but most of all I was honored.

After I made a brief and nervous introduction thanking Ellie and Frank for their generosity, our group was free and open to engage Frank.

To all of our pleasure Frank graciously spent time with just about everyone. Some people only said hello to him and seemed content to meet him and shake his hand. Others took photos of him with themselves and some even tried to get Frank to give them an autograph (a few lucky ones succeeded). While others (like myself) took the unique opportunity to ask him questions about his work and even show him some of their own fantasy illustrations. Frank was a gentleman through it all.




As I had stated earlier Ellie was kind enough to display two of Frank’s recent works that he had executed with his left hand. These works were fresh and beautiful but … different. They were still very much Frazetta though. They were strong, dynamic and bold.

At one point Frazetta and some of us had gathered around one of the particular pieces. It was painted primarily in black and white with the exception of a fantastic acidic green background, and featured a sexy Frazetta woman and a gang of wild monstrous apes.

As we all viewed the work Frank tentatively and rather uncharacteristically asked what we thought of the piece. My friend and fellow illustrator Chris Spollen who stood near Frank, summed it up best: “ You’ve still got it Frank!” he said. Upon hearing that I couldn’t help but notice a small but genuine smile flash across Frazetta’s face.

We “got it” too that day… an experience and a memory that will always flash a smile across our own faces, whenever we recall our afternoon with the Frank Frazetta the Living Legend.



Written by David H. Reuss 2007